1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for lifting animal excrement from the ground and depositing the same into a receptacle. The apparatus comprises a cylindrical receptacle occupied by a screw blade. The bottom of the receptacle is moved out of the way to expose the interior. With the receptacle resting on the ground, the screw blade is rotated. The blade lifts the excrement up into the receptacle, and the bottom of the receptacle is moved back into a position closing the receptacle. The screw blade is operated by a rotatable handle extending upwardly above the cylindrical receptacle. The device can be emptied by reversing its operation, or by removing the bottom closure and allowing the contents to fall from the receptacle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In urban and suburban settings, pet owners must periodically allow their pets a measure of freedom for exercise and elimination of wastes. Most municipalities and similar authorities have prohibited disposal of animal excrement in this manner, opting instead for requiring that the excrement be removed by the animal's owner.
This is an onerous task, since handling of and proximity to excrement is unpleasant at best. The prior art has suggested apparatus for scooping and containing excrement. U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,656, issued to Karlheinz Eiffinger on Dec. 23, 1980, describes an apparatus for this purpose wherein a multibladed shovel unfolds into a deployed position from a handle. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, a cylindrical receptacle having a removable bottom closure receives waste discharged thereinto by shovels through openings formed in the cylindrical wall of the receptacle. By contrast, the present invention employs a screw blade which does not fold down. And unlike the shovels of Eiffinger's second embodiment, the screw blade occupies the receptacle, rather than being deployed when removed from the receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,087, issued to William R. Alexander on Feb. 3, 1976, describes a cylindrical receptacle having an internal scraper tray which projects from one end of the cylinder. However, unlike the present invention, there is no internal screw blade.
A scooping device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,330, issued to Thaddeus Dombrowski on Jun. 7, 1994, comprises two opposed scoops which are mutually hinged and close in clamshell fashion. By contrast, the present invention comprises an outer housing having a rotating internal screw blade.
Enclosed augers are employed in transporting fluent materials, such as freshly mixed cement. Such devices lack a manual drive found in the present invention, and also lack closures at both ends of the surrounding conduit or receptacle required in the present invention.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.